Chapter 6 — Samuel Finally Sits at Table 17
Samuel Vale had almost left when he saw his name missing from Table 17.
He assumed Margaret had removed him.
Then Marcus found him near the lobby and explained what happened.
Samuel came to the side room.
Robert stared at him.
“Why are you here?”
Samuel looked toward Margaret.
“For her.”
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“You nominated me?”
Samuel nodded.
“I followed your work for years.”
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“You could have called.”
“I tried once.”
“When?”
“1996.”
Samuel telephoned the Ellis house.
Robert answered.
He told Samuel never to contact the family again.
Margaret slowly turned toward her father.
Robert did not deny it.
“After that,” Samuel said, “I assumed you all felt the same way.”
Margaret wiped her eyes.
“I didn’t even know you called.”
Samuel smiled sadly.
“Seems there was a lot we didn’t know.”
Then Daniel asked the obvious question.
“What about the jewelry pouch?”
Samuel looked confused.
“What pouch?”
Robert described it.
Small burgundy velvet pouch.
Drawstring top.
Found beneath Samuel’s bed.
Samuel stared at him.
Then suddenly laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because he finally understood.
“That wasn’t your wife’s.”
Robert frowned.
“It came from her jewelry case.”
“No.”
Samuel reached into his wallet.
He removed a tiny faded photograph.
A woman stood beside a hospital bed wearing a gold pendant.
“My mother.”
Samuel pointed toward the necklace.
“Her pendant came in a burgundy pouch.”
When Samuel moved into the Ellis home, he carried several of his mother’s personal belongings.
The pendant itself remained with her.
The empty pouch stayed in Samuel’s suitcase.
It eventually fell beneath the bed.
“You never asked me where it came from,” Samuel said.
Robert went pale.
“I assumed.”
Samuel nodded.
“Yes.”
That one word filled the room.